


Third Time Lucky

by poisonous_panda



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Airship, Clerith, Edge - Freeform, F/M, Lifestream, Love, Promise, Resurrection, Romance, church, date, dream - Freeform, gratitude, the forgotten city
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 17:18:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14000868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonous_panda/pseuds/poisonous_panda
Summary: Cloud got to keep the promise to Aerith of taking her on an airship - you know the one he made when they sneaked aboard the Shinra ship bound for Costa Del Sol - thanks to some 'divine intervention'. A birthday present for a friend of mine. My very first FF7 fic that's not centered around the Turks! So be nice pls xD I kept toying with turning this into a multi-chapter fic, but the scenes are so short I didn't think it was necessary. Let me know what you think please?





	Third Time Lucky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aquaspearmint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquaspearmint/gifts).



It hadn't even been a week since the Geostigma had been cured from the Planet's populace, yet everything had returned to as if it never happened.

Children were still hungry on Edge's streets, adults still worked all hours of the day and night to rebuild the City from the ashes of Meteorfall, Tifa still kept her new bar open for newcomers and workers alike despite no other establishment nearby.

And Cloud still wandered off to the Church. It held so many memories, and although she had helped him out of his grieving, he still missed her terribly. His heart still ached, his eyes still filled with tears at the memory of holding her lifeless body, the memory of the sudden realisation she was _gone_.

Tifa, Denzel and Marlene gave him a purpose now. He had a business to run and people to support. But there was always a Flower Girl shaped hole in his heart. Probably would be forever.

Suddenly a chiming broke through the silence. It was his phone.

Sighing, the ex-mercenary stood from his cross-legged position in front of the blooming yellow flowerbed and got his phone out of his pocket. It was a text from Tifa that a new job had come up.

"Time to go to work," he mumbled to himself, not exactly happy with the location his friend had sent him, "See you around."

With a resigned wave to the flowers, Cloud tenderly walked out of the church; fully aware of the noise his heavy boots made on the aging wooden floor. He felt it disrespectful to make too much of a noise. In his mind, this was a hallowed place.

Hopping on his motorcycle outside, the spikey-haired delivery boy revved his engine and sped off in a plume of dust to meet his old immortal ally at the Forgotten City.

\---

The City was just as Cloud remembered - Nautical in it's theme, a heavy sense of history irradiating from the ancient crumbling structures while the air felt suffocating and stagnant in its age. 

The buildings and paving stones were surprisingly immaculate considering the centuries of neglect, and the Remnant fight that had seen a few of the bleached trees around the sapphire lake fall. It was almost as if the Planet itself was preserving this final Cetra bastion.

Cloud would have given anything to know more of Aerith's heritage. He had promised - before correcting himself to include the entire team - that he would always be there for her when she visibly struggled with the knowledge that she was the last of their kind around the Cosmo Candle. He was her bodyguard after all; and he had failed to protect her at the end.

His mind had wandered to that date they finally shared at the Gold Saucer Gondola - the one where Aerith revealed she knew his presented self was actually a facade for someone who was hurting underneath - that he almost didn't see the bend in the white stone slabbed road leading to the heart of the City. Luckily he swerved sharply just in time, and his heart began fluttering at the sight of the bleached, leafless trees. 

He had no idea why Vincent had made his home here. Cloud didn't like it, it was where _she_ was resting. But he also acknowledged he didn't visit _her_ enough to warrant a discussion. The whole team loved and respected the fallen Cetra in their own way, as evident by the ribbon they all wore in her memory.

Parking his motorcycle on the edge of the white slabbed road, staring directly at the lake, Cloud waited.

Now he understood why Tifa got so frustrated with him not answering his phone - Vincent bought himself one after the Bahamut battle, yet he was no easier to contact. 

The ex-mercenary couldn't stop glancing at the lake, it was like his heart was being pulled in it's direction. Giving in, he wandered into the looming shadow of the giant shell-shaped white building, and slowly crouched onto his knees at the water's edge. It was like how he always treated the flowerbed at the Church, but this felt so much more _real_.

Staring at his reflection in the still water, he stared straight into his own sky blue Mako eyes.

Those eyes... he used to hate them. He felt he did not deserve them, everyone thought they were the mark of a SOLDIER when really he had just been a test subject back at his hometown. Yet Aerith had noticed them straight away and inquired about them. It seems her first boyfriend was a SOLDIER too. At this revelation, Cloud had felt a foreign pang of jealousy. He had slowly began developing an attraction to the spunky woman in the pink dress after hearing her girlish giggle fill her Church before the Turks rudely interrupted. Her inquiry had also made Cloud feel small again, no he had not made it into SOLDIER. It reminded him of the small crush he had had on Tifa back when they were children, but he never felt good enough in comparison to her friends and previous boyfriends. In that one small moment, Cloud felt like a child on top of that slide with Aerith.

But unlike Tifa with her stupid group of friends back when they were kids, the grown woman Aerith smoothed it all over by rubbishing her past, outright claiming it 'didn't matter' and that her and this ex-boyfriend weren't very serious. Even claimed he was a lady's man, so she had figured he had run off with someone else. It had made Cloud look at her differently, this strong yet beautiful woman was letting a man make her feel like she wasn't worth his time? The man didn't deserve her. 

This was reaffirmed by Aerith's reaction in Gongaga when she found out Zack had died. If they were close, surely she would have known.

In the deepest parts of his mind, looking back, Cloud looked fondly upon that heart-to-heart in the park with her; almost as if it was a date in itself. He liked to imagine it _was_ a date, he felt so close to her in those moments, but of course he had never told anyone else about it.

It was a shock finding out her ex was his friend Zack, but there were no ill feelings towards the SOLDIER - past was the past. Cloud was slowly getting better at letting the past go - he had forgiven Tifa for allowing the whole town of Nibelheim to believe it was _his_ idea to go to Mount Nibel, and he had forgiven her for allowing the town to blame him for her injury. It did him no good holding onto grudges like that, but a grudge against himself for failing to protect the first person her had ever opened up to... that was something else entirely.

Throughout their journey, Cloud had felt himself grow closer and closer to the Flower Girl, he was even starting to let his guard down around her without realising. So losing her was like losing a piece of himself too.

Coming back to the present, Cloud plunged a gloved hand into the icy lake, the chill making his whole body shiver. He'd needed a distraction lest he fall too deep inside his own head. It didn't end well last time when he took permanent refuge in there. Aerith had forgiven him, even teased him asking "by who?" when her spirit visited him. Cloud could practically hear the playful smirk on her face as she asked and it had lifted his heavy heart.

He heard graceful footsteps behind him, but did not bother to turn his head; instead choosing to keep his hand in the water. The rustling of the other man's cape signalled who it was.

"So what's this about?" Cloud asked the immortal behind him, without turning his head.

"...... She's gone." came the older man's silky voice. Vincent always spoke quietly, his speech always had an intense edge to it.

"Who?" asked Cloud, pulling himself to his feet and facing Vincent.

The red-eyed man just lifted his golden claw to gesture at the lake.

It took a few moments, but then Cloud understood. Swallowing the initial sense of panic at knowing she had been disturbed, he tried to be logical.

".... Maybe.... she joined the Planet after Kadaj poisoned the water." he says, lowering his gaze. Of course he was referring to when the Remnants had kidnapped the orphans and activated the Jenova cells inside them that was causing the Geostigma.

"Maybe... I still thought it warranted telling you." Came the older man's answer.

Cloud turned his head and gave the lake a sidelong glance.

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I checked on her upon my return here after Sephiroth's second defeat." Vincent answers. After a pause, he addressed his friend again.

"I thought best not to tell you what I was doing. You struggled enough."

It was the first time Vincent acknowledged Cloud's internal struggle, the closest they got was dancing around it when they met before the battle in Edge.

"You of all people would know." Cloud sighs resignedly, referring to the doomed love triangle Vincent was once a part of that led to his non-consensual experimentation.

Vincent didn't answer, he just crossed his arms.

After a pause, Cloud lifted his gaze to meet the other man's eyes.

"Thank you. For checking on her. And... thank you for telling me."

"I did not tell Tifa." Vincent explains, and Cloud was grateful to his friend's discretion. Tifa had not coped well with Cloud's negative mental relapse once the battles were over.

"Thank you. I had better get going." Cloud attempted to give his comrade a smile - if nothing else it was a show of gratitude - but it was a gesture Vincent did not imitate. Instead he gave a curt nod of his head; his long dark hair falling over one eye.

No more words were exchanged as the ex-mercenary walked past his comrade, climbed on his motorcycle and headed back to Edge. There was nothing he could do right now.

\---

The journey from the Forgotten City back to Edge took a day and a half, what with Cloud driving all the way across the continents and paying a ferry to take him and his vehicle across the water. And of course he hadn't told Tifa. Whenever anything had anything to do with Aerith, he kept his mouth shut. He had seen the pain in her eyes when he'd made it obvious how much he loved her. Even when he and Tifa spent the night on the Highwind before the final battle with Sephiroth the first time, there was no romance. There was indeed emotion, and they had had a heart-to-heart about their childhood. It was liberating for the pair of them to unload the guilt they both had for the way they treated each other, the insecurities they had both built up around each other - but that did not equate to romance.

But she knew something bad had happened as soon as Cloud arrived home.

She didn't even ask, just put her hands on her hips and waited; knowing full well Cloud probably wouldn't say a word, just like when he had secretly moved into the Church before the Remnants appeared. 

She was right. Cloud mumbled something about being exhausted and went to bed, not even saying hello to the children - _that_ was out of character. He might close off from her, but he never gives the children the cold shoulder.

He was indeed exhausted as he trudged up the stairs, not physically but spiritually.

Why had her body vanished? He had this irrational anger that Kadaj had stolen her from him. The loss burned deep. What if the Remnant's actions with the orphans _had_ caused her body to disintegrate when he turned the lake black with his poison? But... bodies _do_ rot and vanish. And if anything, souls enter the Lifestream as pure energy. She was gone no matter what remains was left behind.

With a heavy heart and the questions swirling around his head, Cloud kicked off his boots, shedded his pullover and got under his duvet. In sleep he won't have to think about it. 

\---

The dream was strange. Everything glowed white and pale green. It was like the delusions he's had in Mideel when he suffered the second bout of Mako poisoning. He'd thought he was over that, but maybe this was a side effect? Who knows. Cloud just rolled with it.

There was a black silhouette in the distance. Too fuzzy to make out. So Cloud began walking faster, and faster. But no matter how fast he tried to run, he was only moving at a slow walking pace. The silhouette however, was approaching him. 

It was clearly a woman from the curve of her waist. There was long hair as well. Aerith?

Cloud tried to run harder and faster, but to no avail.

She was suddenly in front of him, and he had stopped moving.

The chestnut brown hair pulled on his heart strings. It was loose, unlike his Flower Girl's trademark braid. However, he reassured himself, her braid had fallen out as she sank to the depths of the Forgotten City's lake.

The same Lifestream green eyes.... but they were different. They glowed brighter than his Flower Girl's.

The face - beautiful as it was - was older too.

This older woman had a red dress on with a purple shawl tied at her waist. It was an outfit he would never picture Aerith wearing.

He tried to speak, tried to ask who she was, but no sound came out.

"I have heard a great deal about you Cloud Strife." the woman smiles. Kind and sweet, but with a hint of... duty.

He tried again, but could not answer.

"Twice you have saved the Planet. My daughter may have helped you all along the way, but it was you all who stood and fought. Neither you nor your comrades have Cetra blood flowing in your veins. Your ancestors turned their backs on the Planet centuries ago, yet here you are." she spoke softly, yet with authority. There was so much of her in Aerith's personality.

Cloud stood dumbstruck. Wracking his brains quickly, he suddenly remembered her name - Ifalna. Aerith's biological mother. He had seen the tapes Aerith's father had taken prior to Aerith's conception at Icicle Inn. But why hadn't Ifalna returned to the Planet?

As if sensing his question, the older woman continued.

"Cetra do not return to the Planet as your kind do. Where you return as energy to be recycled, us Cetra remain sentient, at one with the Planet, protecting it from within. I am sorry we could not stop Sephiroth returning to the Living World. His strength grew with each Geostigma. But my daughter has ended that terror now, he will never return again."

Involuntarily, Cloud exhaled a deep breath he wasn't aware he was holding. Ifalna's words were comforting. despite her eyes beginning to twinkle with mischief.

"As a sign of gratitude, the Planet wishes to return my daughter to you and your comrades. It is a very rare honour, but It senses she may do more help in your world than in the Lifestream - the rest of us will take care of the Planet from within. There may also be a chance you could help my daughter continue her bloodline. The Planet is doing it as much for you as itself."

Wait- What? Aerith was coming back? Cloud wanted to scream, to thank her, to.... he wasn't quite sure. But he was held firm and silent in this dream, no matter how real it felt.

"Please do not underestimate the gift the Planet is giving you. I lost my love when he died, his spirit was already reborn. The same will happen to you when the time comes. You were.... fortunate, it was my daughter who left the Living before you, else you would be lost to each other forever."

Cloud wanted to scream at her for using the word 'fortunate', but he knew the point she was trying to make. If he had died before her, the Planet could not pull these spiritual strings, as it were, to reunite them. It was getting harder and harder to accept that this was just a dream.

Ifalna did not speak again. Instead she just smiled at him, as if she was waiting. It left Cloud really confused and he tossed and turned his head looking for his Flower Girl.

Suddenly Ifalna giggled. 

"You will know where to find her." she practically winks at him before turning her back on him and walking back into the pale green light.

Cloud struggles against whatever force was holding him in place, fighting to reach the Cetra woman walking away from him.... and falls straight onto the wooden floor of his bedroom, his green duvet all tangled round his waist and between his legs.

Was it a dream? It felt so real. And with Aerith's body gone.... 

Looking out the window, Cloud saw the sun was already rising.

With a determined scowl settling on his face, Cloud pulled his boots on, quickly brushed his teeth in his en suite bathroom to freshen up and marched out of the house.

Only one way to find out.

\---

Practically skidding to a halt, Cloud jumped from his motorcycle - ignoring all the dust his vehicle had thrown into the air - and sprinted into the Church. The impact of him colliding with the huge wooden double doors forced them open with a loud bang, and all of his momentum kept him running for a couple of seconds up the centre of the Church; all thoughts of remaining quiet in this hallowed place forgotten.

For there, crouched over the yellow flowerbed humming to herself, was his Flower Girl. In one piece. And breathing.

Cloud was stunned. He'd daydreamed about meeting her again, all the things he would say, all the things he would apologise for, but now... she was in front of him and he was transfixed.

Aerith was looking right at him with those Lifestream eyes, kindness radiating from them. She rose gracefully to her feet, grinned then ran straight at him, throwing her arms around his neck. Cloud lets out a loud gasp, but to ensure she was real he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

"You chose to break the doors rather than the roof this time?" she giggles into his shoulder. Her laughter was like music to his ears. 

"Thought... Thought I'd mix things up a bit." he answered, his joy not quite as evident as he would like it to have been in his tone.

She tried to pull away but Cloud didn't let her. She was finally back, he would never fail her again. He wanted to tell her, promise not to let any harm come to her this time.... but instead, all his emotion came out of his eyes. For the first time since holding her lifeless body, Cloud allowed himself to cry. Aerith held him tight as he sank to his knees.

It took a few minutes, but Cloud managed to finally, noisily cry himself dry. Aerith just held him until he pulled away to look at her face. 

"You're really here..." he mumbles, not entirely sure who he was talking to. He was drinking in every feature of the face he never thought he'd see again.

"You left quite the impression on the Cetra, and the Planet let me back. Thank you for everything you've done... both for me and for the Planet." she quietly reassures him.

"I'd do it all again." Cloud smiled - genuinely smiled- as he embraced her again.

"How are the others?" Aerith asks into Cloud's shoulder. 

Oh yeah, he'd been selfish keeping her all to himself. He got to his feet and extended his arms to help her to hers too. As she rose, he diverted his gaze to the ribbon tied around his bicep.

"We all have one." he tells her softly.

"I saw, back in Edge." Aerith smiles happily back, "Thank you."

"I..." Cloud hesitated, strengthening his grip on her delicate hands, suddenly he couldn't meet her gaze, "I won't fail you again."

"I know!" Aerith closed her eyes as she smiled, and Cloud willed himself to never forget the image. "Now, let's go see the others!" the half-Cetra smiled, pulling him by the arm towards the door of the church.

Suddenly she stops abruptly.

"You know...." she says, tilting her head to the side and pushing one of her fingers into her cheek, "I've never been on a motorcycle before."

Realising what she was implying, Cloud smiled and held out his elbow to her.

"Then allow me to show you." he smiles. He felt lighter around Aerith, like he didn't need any barriers. So he didn't mind making a small fool of himself.

They walked out the Church arm in arm, before Cloud took Aerith on the first motorcycle ride of her life.

Their first stop was Tifa's place, and the barmaid excitedly embraced her resurrected friend as soon as she saw her. The girls had a giggle, complimented each other's appearance and embraced again. Cloud wasn't very familiar with female-to-female etiquette so he just left them to it, leaning against the doorway with a small smile on his face. Aerith was overjoyed to see the young lady Marlene had grown into, and Marlene thanked the Flower Girl for making her presence known to her when Holy fought against the Meteor. Marlene explained she had looked out the window and seen the entire battle of the forces of nature, and she wasn't scared "one bit" because she knew Aerith was there. Denzel was a little shy, but Marlene had told him years ago about Aerith the Flower Girl, the magical woman who had saved them all. So he was excited to finally meet the mythical lady, and he approved of where Marlene's hairstyle came from.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Cid was the first one to be called, and Aerith spoke to him personally to prove she was alive. He had practically threw himself onto the 'SHERA' airship with his long-suffering wife, and rounded up the rest of the group. Someone had managed to get hold of Vincent too. Tifa remarked that it "really is a day of miracles", much to Aerith's amusement.

There were many hugs exchanged, Yuffie jumped on Aerith in her excitement, Nanaki allowed himself to give into his animal urges and balanced on his back paws to give Aerith an excited lick on her face. Even Vincent joined in the physical affection. Many tears were shed, even from Barrett. Cloud recounted meeting Ifalna and Aerith rolled her eyes, joking about "interfering mothers".

Then of course, Cid asked Tifa to open the bar for them. Which she did with no reluctance.

The night flew by with drinks, laughs, jokes, some tears and hugs. It was the warmest any of the group had felt in a very long time, and Aerith was thrilled that Cid and Shera had finally put their differences behind them and were settled into marital bliss.

As they reached the early hours, Cloud pulled Cid aside and appeared to be asking him something. Tifa and Aerith were curious, while Yuffie and Barrett were poking fun at the half-Cetra asking when was she going to give Cloud a "boot up his ass" and marry him. Tifa was a little hurt, she would probably always have some kind of romantic affection towards the ex-mercenary, but she was a big girl and could move on. Vincent even joined in the jokes saying that Cloud almost rivaled him with how miserable he had been acting since losing Aerith. All the Flower Girl could do was laugh, she had no idea how to really answer about Cloud's depression, it seemed he had not told them of her spiritual visits during the Remnant's attack.

The conversation had finally moved on to Barrett explaining what the Turks and Rufus were up to now before Cloud came over.

"Aerith.... I have something to show you. Would you mind?" he seemed to almost be blushing. The group knew not to tease him for fear he retreated. Tifa had a pang of jealousy, but she was thrilled that Cloud seemed more like his old self than he had been for a very long time.

"Sure!" Aerith smiled, getting to her feet, "Bye everyone, I'll be back soon!". She picked up her small red jacket and held her hand out to Cloud, who took it without hesitation. As they left through the back door, Aerith turned her head and shouted "Promise!" back at the others. She still felt a little guilty that she had told Cloud she would "come back when it's all over" after running off to the Forgotten City all by herself. Obviously she never did come back, she knew she wasn't going to come back. For her prayer to reach Holy and for her to be able to command it, her spirit had to join the Lifestream. 

\---

The night air was chilly, colder than she ever knew Midgar to be. But that was probably because the huge plate above the City was no longer there. Midgar had been liberated from tyranny, and Edge was rising from the ashes.

Cloud hadn't said a word, talking never was his strong point, but Aerith had bundles of patience when it came to her Bodyguard. He just led her by the hand to who-knows-where.

They stopped in front of Cid's SHERA ship.

Keeping his back to her, Cloud began to speak.

"Do you remember, on the ship to Costa Del Sol.... you told me you wanted to ride an airship?"

Aerith gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth. He remembered! Then he turned to face her. He seemed so determined, as if this was an important battle or something.

"When we began flying the Highwind after Cid took it from Shinra, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I felt terrible you were missing out." He neglected to mention how much he wanted to see her chestnut hair blowing in the breeze while an excited smile graced her beautiful face.

"Cloud..." Aerith breathed, happy tears filling her eyes.

"Hurry up and go on 'er while I'm still young!" Cid shouted from the cockpit, earning a giggle from Aerith and causing Cloud to blush and awkwardly rub the back of his head.

"Come on!" she squealed, grabbing hold of Cloud and pulling him into the ship. They made their way to the deck outside as Cid brought the ship into the air.

The night was dark, but it made the moon and stars glow so much brighter than either of the lovers had seen them before.

"It's beautiful..." Aerith whispers, her eyes transfixed on the stars. Cloud was staring at her, enjoying her reaction, rather than taking in his surroundings.

After a few moments of working up his courage, he tenderly held the bottom of her braid in his thumb and forefinger.

"May I?" his tone was cautious. Aerith just beamed in response and Cloud took that as permission. He removed the little ribbon at the base of her braid, tenderly pulled apart the braid itself, then gently undid her trademark pink ribbon. There was no White Materia, but he chose not to question it just yet.

Aerith's hair fell down to her hips, the gentle night breeze making it dance around her body, much like her bangs were playfully swaying around her face.

Wanting to compliment her, Cloud went to speak, but his words got stuck in his throat. He never was any good at articulating his feelings. Thankfully, Aerith could always read him like a book.

She took her pink ribbon from his hands, walked over to the edge of the deck, and let it go. It flew off into the breeze, too far for them to track.

"A part of my life I'm finally ready to let go of." she mutters to herself, but Cloud did hear her. He was unaware the ribbon was a gift from Zack. Aerith had held onto it because it was a gift from her first love, but it had slowly lost its meaning when she began developing feelings for Cloud.

Cloud quietly steps forward, until he was standing at her back. He was so gentle - as if moving too fast or too noisily would shatter the moment - and placed his hands on her hips.

Aerith's heart soared upon feeling him make contact, she knew it took a lot for him to allow himself to be vulnerable. Turning in his hands to face him, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"One promise of many." he smiled down at her, referring to the airship ride.

"Thanks to the Planet, we have all the time in the world. They always say the third date is the lucky one!" she giggled.

Before Cloud could process that she had referenced the other two dates in the way that he had always thought of them, Aerith had planted her lips firmly on his.

It was going to take a force mightier than Sephiroth, or the Planet, to separate them again.


End file.
